Thursday, 23 June 2016

Logo Modernism, published in folio format by Taschen, features 6,000 logos designed between 1940 and 1980. The logos are reproduced in black and white, and classified into three categories: "Geometric", "Effect", and "Typographic". Julius Wiedemann edited Information Graphics and Understanding The World in addition to Logo Modernism.

The book begins with an introduction by Jens Muller giving a brief account of the evolution of logo design, illustrated with historical examples. A 300-page logo directory is followed by profiles of seven key graphic designers, including Yusaku Kamekura, whose book Trademarks Of The World (1956) is described as "a standard work for the period." There's also an extensive bibliography.

Marks Of Excellence (by Per Mollerup) remains the most comprehensive guide to logos and trademarks. The two leading histories of graphic design both include chapters on logos: "Corporate Identity and Visual Systems" in A History Of Graphic Design (by Philip B Meggs and Alston W Purvis), and "Corporate Identity in Germany and America" in Graphic Design (by Stephen J Eskilson).